VOL. LVII.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., JANUARY 11, 1902.
NO. 2
The Making of Maple Syrup.
Kdltor.  Indiana   Fanner:
The best grade eef maple simp is light
colored and very transparent. So clear
tbat we may see throngh it if it glass jar
of the sirup is held to the light. Experience has taught us that the sirup will lie
dark and off flavored if the sap is met
boiled verv soon after it leaves the trees.
nut clearing, but after the new milk is
added (we never om eggs.) the amount of
thick, dark scum that comes to the surface- just before it boils is surprising. This
scum call be removed best before the simp
IsiiN. A very little of the sweet milk
will do the work of clarifying. Then
■training the Bniehed product while it is
warm   throngh   a   flannel   strainer,  conical
io earerel (kaopta in- IndianapoHa for pure
maple sirup: the price paid was one dollar
per gallon. That wns one time that sor-
gum mnleeaee was expensive.
F.  M    W
Farm Experiences.
Editor.   Imllau. F.rtnejr:
As tii.- waaon la now at hand when the
young on hards arc liable to damage  from
a large amount of feed, but the quality
wa- \eiy poor. The grains were wrinkled
as though ii was a very sw«?et rariety,
but   it    was   no   lietler  than  common   field
corn.
On two and one-half acres of land nun b
poorer ilmn the sugar corn patch, we
ralaed Dine largo loads of cured sorgum
hay, and it is a lietter feed than the sugar
A farmer liviug a few miles from here
l-tiilt a cistern- for the storage of the
maple sap. He claims the quality of the
sirup is not injured by the sap standing,
when   stored   in   this   way.
We use barrels on boat sled for gathering. To keep the sap from slopping out,
we fasten a clean coffee sack on the top
of barrel with a wooden hoop. Allow the
sack to sag in the middle. It would eeean
that the sap would come through this porous material and spill out, but it does
not.
Xo sloven can make good maple simp.
Kvery particle of dirt or foreign matter
must Ik- kept out. Board covers for the
buckets are inexpensive and almost indis-
pcnsihlc They keep out rain, snow, leaves,
bugs, heat and cold. Paint one side
white and the other some bright color, ami
reversing the sides each gathering will
• nable one to tell at a glance whieh are
gathered. They are laid on top of the
buckets, not fastened. A strong wind
will sometimes blow them off, but not
often. Some sirup makers claim that if
one is careful tee keep all impurities out
of the sap then' is no need of refining or
clarifying it with milk and eggs. I cannot agree with them on this point. When
the sirup is handled with neatness and
dispatch it looks good enough to use with
in shape, removes th.- Boating bits of sediment of every kind. An inexperienced
parson would think it impossible to strain
i In- simp through flannel. It cannot be
done in a harry. Give it time to run
through. Matters may be hastened a little by rinsing the strainer thoroughly
every gallon or two. The liest sirup makers in Vermont, I am told, use strainers
made of thick wool felt. Many of us
would like the sirup better if it could be
boiled thicker than standard legal weight
i leven pounds per gallon. It would be
nicer: then it wonld not ferment if lefi
fpen in warm weather. The objection to
making the sjmp thick is that it will crystallize into rock candy or sugar, a good
part of it, whieh would not be desirable.
For home use I like the sirup put up in
the glass sf lf-sealer cans. After filling
the sirup pitcher the cap of the can may
be screwed down tightly, excluding the air
whie h la nn advantage in warm weather
when the sirup will soon ferment if left
open. The cans of sirup should be kept
in a cool dark plaee. When putting np
sirup for market the square, self sealing,
gallon tin cans are mostly used. Onee
rpon a time a dishonest old farmer nesed
gallon jogs. He tilled tbe jugs nearly
full of thick sorgum. then finished fil'ing
with   maple  simp.      He sold the mixture
rabbits,  I  wish   to call  the attention of
every farmer to that simple but sure remedy, grease.      Any kind of grease rubbed
on   the  bark   of a young tree as high as
a rabbit can  reach it, will prevent it from
being gnawed for one year.      Whats tho
use   to   bother with   wire   netting or   any
kind  of tree  guards,   when so   simple  a
remedy  is within  the  reach of  everyone?
We  bave rabbits   without   number     and
early last winter  some young trees  wero
girdled   nearly around,   We  rubbed   lard
on them witli a rag, and the rabbits would
smell   of it    and   leave  it   alone.     These
trees healed   over nnd made a fine growth
during the summer.     A few days ago wo
applied   linseed oil and tallow,  melted together,   and   applied with a   brush, to our
new orchard.     It should be applied when
in   a  semi-liquid  state.
Two years ajro and ag:nin  last spring the
Indiana  Farmer published   the  recipe  for
Whitehouse   -whitewash.  Wo  painted   four
buildings with it,   following the  directions
to the letter.   Two other houses near here
were painted   with it and all of them scaled
off badly.    We cannot see that it is any
improvement    over   the     ordinary     lime
whitewash.
Another mistake we made last spring
was planting two acres of Stowells evergreen sweet oorn for row feed.      It mad*
corn, ears ami all. Horses, cows and hogs
like it, and there is practically no waste
in feeding it. The season was go late it
failed to head out, but is very sweet;
next time we will sow it thicker, at least
two bushels per acre, as it is difficult to
cure and handle like hay when the stalks
are large.
Our soja beans withstood the drouth
much better than the cow peas. The
virres are short but full of beans, while
the eow peas produced but few beaaa.
We are feeding the hens with soja beans
and eorn, for the grain ration.
Economy. C. Sumner Beard.
The Department of Agriculture is getting ready to distribute some of the sev-
eral carloads of foreign seeds received
last season from the Mediterranean countries an<l thc Trans-Caspian region. In
the "cradle of the world" the Department
explorers found many curious plants,
grown by the natives from time immemorial, and some of these may become of
use in this country. At any rate the Department and Experiment Stations are
testing a large number of new species as
well as supposed improved varieties of
some of our staple crops.
Send in your Dame with another'and
get the Faiimer one year for Jl.  •  ■   '